Video Vault: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’

Friday

Jun 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2007 at 5:52 PM

A quick look at a DVD movie.

Will Pfeifer

“The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” is the perfect DVD movie. Directed by Wes Anderson, starring Bill Murray and released at the tail end of 2004, it died in theaters and left even Anderson fans — myself included — feeling unsatisfied.

But I gave it a second look on DVD and saw depth and brilliance I’d missed the first time around. Now I think it’s one of Anderson’s best movies — and one of my favorites of recent years.

Murray plays an aging oceanographer searching for the elusive leopard shark that killed his partner. Along the way, he deals with a long-lost son, his ex-wife and the occasional pirate attack. Like other Anderson films, it strikes a delicate balance between comedy and melancholy and, if you’re in the right mood, packs quite the emotional wallop. Great soundtrack, too.